By Mark Spillane, QBSN Staff Writer
The puck will drop at center ice inside Starr Rink this Friday, March 9 at 7 p.m. in Hamilton, N.Y for Game One of the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals. The opening faceoff will mark the beginning men’s hockey best of three quarterfinal series between the fifth seeded Quinnipiac University Bobcats (19-12-6, 9-8-5 ECAC) and the fourth seeded Colgate University Raiders (17-14-3, 11-10-1 ECAC). The two teams split the season series, with a 3-1 Colgate victory in New York and a 7-1 Quinnipiac win in Hamden, Conn.
The Bobcats will head into the weekend fresh off a 2-1 home series victory against the Brown University Bears. The series against the Bears started off on the wrong foot for Quinnipiac, as the Bobcats came out flat in the opener and lost 4-1.
“I am literally shocked,” head coach Rand Pecknold said after the game. “Guys were not ready to play tonight.”
He had them ready in game two, however, as the Bobcats jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period, before adding another goal in the third frame to put the game away. Behind a strong 16-save shutout performance from junior goalie Eric Hartzell (White Bear Lake, Minn.), Quinnipiac dominated the contest to set up a win-or-go-home series finale on Sunday night.
Game three opened in much the same way that game two did, with the Bobcats scoring just one minute and 16-seconds into the first period on a power play goal from sophomore Kellen Jones (Montrose, B.C.). Freshman Matthew Peca (Petawawa, Ont.) earned the assist, giving him a contribution on eleven consecutive Quinnipiac goals by the end of the weekend. With goals scattered around, the Bobcats took Game Three 4-2.
On the other side, the Raiders come into this series just about as cold as the Bobcats are hot. Colgate did not play last weekend after earning a first round bye during the ECAC regular season. Prior to the week off, the Raiders lost four straight games, including two at Starr Rink in the final regular season weekend to RPI and Union. The weekend off gave Colgate a chance to regroup and prepare for the weekend date with the Bobcats.
Players to Watch:
Quinnipiac
The obvious players to watch for Quinnipiac are Peca, and both Jones twins. Peca is the two time defending ECAC rookie of the week and has tallied five points, while Connor and Kellen Jones have combined for six points so far this postseason.
Aside from their line, the Bobcats finally got some offense from elsewhere on the roster last weekend with Yuri Bouharevich (Montreal, Quebec), Clay Harvey (Jr. Gull Lake, Saskatewan) and Kevin Bui (Sr. Edmonton, Alberta) all scoring. Another boost came from the return of Bobcats’ leading goal scorer junior Jeremy Langlois (Tempe, Ariz.) to the lineup for Saturday and Sunday’s match-ups. Despite not scoring, he played well overall and made some noise on both the penalty kill and power play.
Colgate
On Colgate’s side, the obvious man to watch is Hobey Baker award finalist, Austin Smith. Smith has 34 goals in 34 games this year, making him the only player in the nation with 30 goals or more. During the Raiders four game losing skid, Smith scored two goals and assisted on three more, so he has not slowed down, despite his team’s poor play.
With all of the attention that Smith garners, his line-mate Chris Wagner is often overlooked. Wagner has quietly tallied 32 assists in his 33 games, which is good for fourth best in the country. His abilities to find and pass to his teammates have helped set up many of Smith’s goals and they are one of the best duos in all of NCAA D-1 Hockey.
Keys:
Quinnipiac
The first key for the Bobcats is to continue getting offensive production from multiple lines. It has been seen at this point that the Peca/Jones/Jones line is going to produce, but they will need help from the other lines as well.
A second major key for Quinnipiac is for Hartzell to continue his strong play. He played with a different focus in games two and three against Brown, and if he plays that way again, it will make the Bobcats tough to defeat.
A third key for the Bobcats is to keep up the fantastic penalty killing. The second best penalty kill in the nation (89.3 percent) was incredibly efficient against Brown, killing off 11 of 12 infractions, including a few crucial five-on-three situations. That type of penalty kill can be very frustrating for opposing power plays and often helps swing the momentum in Quinnipiac’s favor several times per game.
Colgate:
The Raiders first two main keys are to continue getting production from Smith and Wagner, but to also generate offense outside of them. The Bobcats will be targeting the pair with their best defensive combinations to try and slow Colgate’s best line, so the Raiders’ other lines must help out.
Like the Bobcats, another major key for Colgate is all about who’s between the pipes. Colgate features sophomore net-minder Erik Mihalik, who has amassed a .896 save percentage this year, but surrendered a combined seven goals in the team’s two losses to St. Lawrence and RPI.
Prediction:
The Bobcats are playing some of their best hockey of this season and are heading into Friday full of confidence. On the other hand, the Raiders have not won in nearly a month but have shown they know how to get the job done. The Bobcats will overcome Colgate's home ice advantage to win the series two games to one.
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